Defensive tackle Sylvester Williams was feeling his in the special uniforms UNC broke out for Saturday's game against N.C. State

CHAPEL HILL – Larry Fedora pulled out all the stops in an effort to motivate his North Carolina football team for its rivalry game against N.C. State on Saturday.

He covered the Tar Heels’ locker room from ceiling to floor in Wolfpack red. He surprised his players by unveiling new chrome helmets just before sending them out onto the field for kickoff. He opened up the playbook by using a double reverse, a flea flicker and fake extra point before the end of the first quarter.

Though all the moves had the desired effect and helped UNC get off to a fast start on a dreary day at Kenan Stadium, it was another much more personal form of inspiration that had the biggest impact on breaking the Tar Heels’ five-game losing streak to State.

Friday night at the team hotel, Fedora had some of his senior leaders address their younger teammates about the importance this game held for them.

Cooper

Their words, especially those from offensive guard Jonathan Cooper, continued to resonate as UNC battled back from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit for an emotional 43-35 victory.

“Unbelievable speech by Coop,” junior quarterback Bryn Renner said. “He’s a fifth-year guy, All-American. Everything he said (Friday) night really got us motivated. He took about 15 minutes to spill his heart out to us.

“We’ve been through a lot as a team. We’ve been through as much adversity as you can go through. This win means a lot for everybody, including the senior class to finally get over this hump and beat (State).”

That was evident in the emotion that poured out from the Tar Heels after star running back Giovani Bernard completed their comeback with a 74-yard punt return for the game-winning touchdown with 13 seconds remaining.

Tears flowed freely as the players rushed to the student section to celebrate with their classmates while their alma mater was played.

The atmosphere at Friday night’s team meeting was almost as emotionally charged as Cooper – a 6-foot-3, 295-pound graduate of Wilmington’s Hoggard High – stood up and began to speak.

“I just said how much the game mean to me and how difficult it’s been to put with losing all those games and to hear about it constantly from everybody,” he said. “I told them it was bigger than hate. This game was about pride. Honestly, that win would almost rectify the season for us and be the win.”

Because UNC is ineligible for the postseason this year under its NCAA sanctions, several players indicated that Saturday’s win against the Wolfpack was the next best substitute for a bowl victory.

“Deep down, definitely it meant more to us,” Bernard said. “This game was our Super Bowl.”

It certainly felt like it, especially after the Tar Heels – who were dressed in all navy blue – surprised the crowd by changing out of their white helmets from pregame warmups and rushing out of the tunnel wearing shiny new silver ones with large Carolina blue footprints on each side.

Giovani Bernard and his teammates were excited about the new silver helmets they wore Saturday

“It was like a bunch of kids at Christmas running around in there when they came back off the field, because they had no idea,” Fedora said of the helmet change. “It was a lot of fun watching them.

“It’s really hard to imagine that something like that or a pretty uniform or some pretty shoes had something to do with the game. I still believe it’s each kid doing his job and outplaying the guy across from him. But some of them feel better about it when they look pretty.”

Whether it was the new helmets or simply the magnitude of the game, the Tar Heels didn’t seem to let anything bother them Saturday – whether it was the 28 straight points scored by the Wolfpack or a couple of aching ankles that threatened to sideline both Bernard and Cooper in the second half.

“I got rolled up a little bit,” Cooper said. “That didn’t feel too good. (But) no matter what, I was going to have to come back in regardless.”

Cooper recovered well enough to not only get back into the game, but to also accompany Bernard at least part of the way down the sideline as he ran for the game-winning touchdown.

It was a run and a victory that did more than just end a frustrating five-game losing streak to a rival and improve UNC’s record to 7-3.

“It’s a big monkey off our back,” Renner said. “To come up with a victory like that, it means a lot.”